Ranking National League All Star Finalists from Most-to-Least Deserving

by Julian Spivey
Major League Baseball changed up the way of selecting the starting lineups for the All Star Game this season. Fans still get to choose which eight position players make the midsummer classic, but there are now two types of fan-voting. The first, which has already taken place, eliminated most of the field down to three finalists (nine for the outfield), of which the fans will vote from to select the eventual starter. This run-off for the starting lineup will begin on Wednesday, June 26 at 11 a.m. (central standard time) and last only 28 hours with the winners announced on ESPN on Thursday, June 27 at 6 p.m.  

Catcher

Willson Contreras (Chicago Cubs): .290 BA, 15 HR, 42 RBI, .386 OBP, 1.9 WAR
Yasmani Grandal (Milwaukee Brewers): .274 BA, 17 HR, 45 RBI, .383 OBP, 2.1 WAR
Brian McCann (Atlanta Braves): .287 BA, 7 HR, 29 RBI, .355 OBP, 0.3 WAR

1. Wilson Contreras – The numbers between Contreras and Brewers game-caller Yasmani Grandal are incredibly close, so I’m going to give Contreras the slight nod because his batting average is currently 16 points higher than Grandal’s.
   
   
2. Yasmani Grandal – Grandal should make the National League All Star team either way whether his Brewers fans vote him in or not as this is basically a two-man race between him and Contreras.
   
   
3. Brian McCann – McCann is basically here because Atlanta Braves fans are excited to see him return to the franchise he began and had his finest seasons with. However, despite good numbers, he really shouldn’t be here as a platoon player with Tyler Flowers meaning he has about half the at-bats as Contreras and Grandal. 

First Base

Josh Bell (Pittsburgh Pirates): .313 BA, 20 HR, 66 RBI, .384 OBP, 2.8 WAR
Freddie Freeman (Atlanta Braves): .318 BA, 21 HR, 61 RBI, .407 OBP, 3.2 WAR
Anthony Rizzo (Chicago Cubs): .275 BA, 19 HR, 53 RBI, .385 OBP, 2.1 WAR

1. Freddie Freeman – For the bulk of the first half of the season Pittsburgh Pirates first bagger Josh Bell was the leading candidate for this – and got most of my All Star votes as a result – but, he’s been surpassed in every stat category but RBI lately by Freeman.
   
   
2. Josh Bell – Bell certainly deserves to make his first All Star team this year and it helps that he plays on a Pirates team that probably won’t give too many other All Star Game options, but if Pirates fans don’t show up and vote him into the starting lineup he could get surpassed on the team by New York Mets rookie Pete Alonso, who didn’t even make the finalist cut, but is certainly ASG deserving.
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3. Anthony Rizzo – Rizzo is having his usual good season with the Cubs, but it’s not quite as good as he’s been in the past and he’s nowhere near the production of either Freeman or Bell this season. In fact, he probably shouldn’t have been a finalist over Pete Alonso, but Cubs fans showed up in droves for All Star voting this year getting seven players into the finalist running. 

Second Base

Ozzie Albies (Atlanta Braves): .284 BA, 11 HR, 40 RBI, .344 OBP, 1.5 WAR
Ketel Marte (Arizona Diamondbacks): .309 BA, 20 HR, 51 RBI, .359 OBP, 3.6 WAR
Mike Moustakas (Milwaukee Brewers): .281, 22 HR, 46 RBI, .360 OBP, 2.8 WAR

1. Ketel Marte – The power numbers are close between Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte and Milwaukee Brewers two-bagger Mike Moustakas, but Marte has a WAR of almost a full win higher and a batting average almost 30 points higher and that’s a deciding factor for me. Moustakas’ advantage is the fact that he plays for a better team and has more name recognition than Marte.
   
   
2. Mike Moustakas – Moustakas has been an All Star before as a third baseman for the Kansas City Royals in the American League but has had a pretty flawless transition to second base for the Brewers. He’s deserving as a reserve to Marte in the midsummer classic.
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3. Ozzie Albies – Albies was the All Star leading vote getter at second base the entire way for the National League and there’s good reason to believe the Atlanta Braves fan-base will vote him into the starting lineup for the second straight season, but his overall numbers are slightly behind both other candidates at this position. 

Third Base

Nolan Arenado (Colorado Rockies): .325 BA, 19 HR, 62 RBI, .387 OBP, 3.2 WAR
Kris Bryant (Chicago Cubs): .285 BA, 15 HR, 39 RBI, .394 OBP, 2.2 WAR
Josh Donaldson (Atlanta Braves): .260 BA, 14 HR, 36 RBI, .364 OBP, 2.3 WAR

1. Nolan Arenado – This position shouldn’t even be close. Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado is clearly the best all-around at his position in the game. His WAR is a full win higher than either Kris Bryant’s or Josh Donaldson’s and he has almost twice as many RBI as those two and a much higher batting average.
   
   
2. Kris Bryant – Kris Bryant is having a fine season for the Chicago Cubs, but he’s actually putting up lesser numbers than he’s capable of. He might make the team as a reserve if the powerful Cubs fan-base doesn’t vote him into the starting lineup.
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3. Josh Donaldson – Donaldson got off to a sluggish (and not in the good baseball way) start to the season but has come on like gang busters in the last couple of weeks for the Atlanta Braves almost doubling his power output in just his last 13 or so games. I believe his overall numbers justify his third place position here. 

Shortstop

Javier Baez (Chicago Cubs): .281 BA, 18 HR, 48 RBI, .321 OBP, 3.0 WAR
Trevor Story (Colorado Rockies): .294 BA, 17 HR, 48 RBI, .360 OBP, 3.1 WAR
Dansby Swanson (Atlanta Braves): .263 BA, 14 HR, 47 RBI, .328 OBP, 1.3 WAR

1. Javier Baez – Baez is arguably the most exciting player in the entire game of baseball to watch and when it comes to an exhibition game for the fans that’s something that should be considered. It helps that his numbers are also deserving, but so are that of Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story. Story has better numbers, but I’m giving the slot to Baez.
   
   
2. Trevor Story – I don’t believe the Colorado Rockies fan-base will be as voracious when it comes to the finalist voting as the Chicago Cubs fan-base, so I don’t see Story surpassing Baez even if his numbers are a bit better. Story is currently on the injured list with a thumb sprain with just over two weeks before the All Star Game, so he may not even want to play anyway if ready.
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3. Dansby Swanson – I so want to see Swanson voted into the All Star game as the Atlanta Braves shortstop is one of the most improved players in the game this season, but Baez and Story do have better overall numbers. 

Outfield

Ronald Acuna Jr. (Atlanta Braves): .288 BA, 17 HR, 49 RBI, .370 OBP, 2.6 WAR
Albert Almora (Chicago Cubs): .249 BA, 7 HR, 22 RBI, .290 OBP, 0.7 WAR
Cody Bellinger (Los Angeles Dodgers): .353 BA, 25 HR, 61 RBI, .447 OBP, 6.3 WAR
Charlie Blackmon (Colorado Rockies): .332 BA, 18 HR, 49 RBI, .377 OBP, 1.6 WAR
Jason Heyward (Chicago Cubs): .256 BA, 10 HR, 26 RBI, .351 OBP, 0.5 WAR
Nick Markakis (Atlanta Braves): .276 BA, 6 HR, 42 RBI, .362 OBP, 0.9 WAR
Joc Pederson (Los Angeles Dodgers): .236 BA, 20 HR, 36 RBI, .332 OBP, 1.8 WAR
Kyle Schwarber (Chicago Cubs): .231 BA, 16 HR, 35 RBI, .324 OBP, 0.3 WAR
Christian Yelich (Milwaukee Brewers): .345 BA, 29 HR, 62 RBI, .439 OBP, 4.7 WAR
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1. Cody Bellinger
2. Christian Yelich
3. Charlie Blackmon
4. Ronald Acuna Jr.
   
   

The National League outfield race should be a four-man competition for the three starting spots. L.A. Dodgers slugger Cody Bellinger and Milwaukee Brewers reigning N.L. MVP Christian Yelich should be shoo-ins given their numbers and play in the first half that have them duking it out for MVP. The third slot comes down to Colorado Rockies’ Charlie Blackmon and Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. The homers, RBI and On-Base Percentage between the two are basically even. Blackmon is hitting close to 50 points higher than Acuna and Acuna has a whole win more in his WAR than Blackmon. Because I’m an old school fan who still values batting average so much, I’ll make the controversial decision to give Blackmon the spot. Acuna is likely going to get the spot, though, due to popularity – and that’s what this game is truly about anyway.

     5. Nick Markakis
     6. Joc Pederson

I don’t believe Nick Markakis of the Atlanta Braves or Joc Pederson of the L.A. Dodgers should be All Stars this season, but ultimately their positions here (although I can’t stand Pederson’s hit a homer, walk or strikeout game) aren’t near as bothersome as the Chicago Cubs trio below. The outfield spots in the fan voting this year are really the only spots they screwed up.

     7. Jason Heyward
     8. Kyle Schwarber
     9. Albert Almora

Chicago Cubs fans have basically turned the nine-position finalist outfield slot into a joke by stuffing the ballot box for three of their guys who have absolutely no business near the All Star Game this season. I sincerely hope there’s enough votes all-around to keep Almora, Heyward and Schwarber out of the game.